


"They'll just eat it up"

by bearylovely



Series: hammock buds [2]
Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M, Secret Relationship, Sleepovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-12-14 07:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21011711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearylovely/pseuds/bearylovely
Summary: Basically, everyone finds out. Some angsty fluff in there. Based on Harry Styles music.





	1. Bev

Nothing could surprise Bev anymore. After everything, she wasn’t really expecting to find Richie and Eddie tounge deep in each other in Richie’s old truck at the barrens, but it wasn’t something that she would consider abnormal. She simply knocked on the door, and waited until a a pair of lustful eyes spotted her and immediately changed to remorsefully embarrassed. Eddie straightened himself out in the front seat and cleared his throat before moving to pop open the back door. 

“So you guys wanna go see a movie? There’s this new one about dinosaurs, I don’t know if it’s really my cup of tea, but I-”

“Bev” Eddie’s voice was high pitched and shrill.

Richie slouched nonchalantly in the driver’s seat, turned back to completely face Bev, who rolled her eyes. 

“Come on, you really think I’d wanna ask?” Bev crossed her arms. 

“What? Ask about how I got the whole Kaspbrak family wrapped around my pinkie finger” Richie punched Eddie’s shoulder.

“Shut up” Eddie looked away, blushing. 

“Make me” At Richie’s words, Eddie’s eyes got visibly bigger and Bev had to stop herself from getting out of the car. 

“Can you two cut it out and take me to a damn movie!” 

“You can’t tell anyone about this” Eddie huffed, snapping his seatbelt into place. 

“What? Why?” Bev leaned forward on the back of Eddie’s chair. 

“Because we haven’t told anyone...yet” Eddie flushed again and Bev sat back. 

“Okay, but you better not try anything freaky at Bill’s tonight, his mom would have an aneurism” Bev clicked her seatbelt in, watching Richie pull the car out of park. 

“Oh Bevvy, you say that like we haven’t already” 

Bev was about to laugh when she saw Eddie straighten up in his seat and decided that it was best not to egg him on. She didn’t need, nor want, to know the details of what they had or hadn’t done. Though, knowing Richie, most of what he said was probably going to be over exaggerated anyway, she didn’t want to chance it. And it was actually sort of cute.  
Bev didn’t like a lot of the changes their group went through. She had always found Bill’s stutter rather endearing, and the loss of it made him a lot less empathetic. Ben’s weight loss so far was impressive, but she worried about his self esteem. Bev herself wasn’t particularly good at brushing off what other people said about her, but she wanted Ben to be able to do it for the both of them. He was stronger than he would ever believe. Mike started working more and more, so much so that it was hard to ever get hold of him. Mike had also gotten a cat, which she wasn’t particularly fond of either. Stan, well, he had become engrossed entirely with Bill. Not that it was a bad thing, for the most part it was pretty cute, but she missed their late night talks about how mean Mike’s cat was and how it should have been named Lucifer instead.  
But this wasn’t a change she was ready to be mad at. It was nice to see a good thing happen to their group, like when Bill had broken up with her. Sure, it was a hard two weeks, but it got better. Soon enough, Bev had realized just how much Ben followed her around like a sick puppy, and took a liking to him. And she realized that her and Bill were better as friends, besides, he was never as up on chivalry as Ben had become. She found roses in her locker every fifthteenth of the month to mark their anniversary.  
The car sputtered and clamoured over the dirty roads leading towards the movie theatre. Derry was just a small enough town to still have some unpaved roads. Eddie reached over to put his hand on top of Richie’s free one. It was a small moment that sent chills down his back. Bev didn’t say a word, only pretended to not notice by looking out the dirty window. Richie attempted to turn on the radio, but it had been long since gone. Eddie huffed out a laugh at this, because Richie had complained about it being broken for weeks, and it was so characteristically him to forget.  
The movie went by in a blur. Richie and Eddie sat holding hands with Bev sitting to Richie’s left. Occasionally he would lean over and whisper something crude into her ear and she would force herself to bite down on popcorn to stifle a laugh. Turns out Richie had seen the movie twice before, but didn’t feel like sharing until they were out of the theatre. As soon as they stood up, their hands had flown apart. They passed a couple of people on the way out, looking away. Bev could feel the fear, it was palpable in the air around them. If she wasn’t so used to feeling out of place, she might have realized that in reality, no one was looking at the two boys. 

“Do you think it’s too early to head over to Bill’s?” Richie unlocked the car. 

“Oh I don’t know, I don’t think so” Bev slid into the backseat. 

“Yeah, only about three hours early” Eddie scoffed.

It was that moment when Bev realized what had them so scared. Eddie was wearing one of Richie’s signature jackets. A jacket that was so out of place for Eddie to be wearing that if she wasn’t so tired and oblivious, she would have noticed earlier. She always had a thing for fashion, and she would have never thought that Eddie would look so good in a bomber jacket, but it wasn’t half bad. It was only that it was a bright red and white jacket with bright lettering on the back, and he would never in his right mind wear that outside. But he wasn’t in his right mind. He was dating Richie.  
Bev herself was wearing a light red shirt under a pair of overalls. With the end of autumn only days away, she opted for full length overalls and not the cropped pair she liked. Her boots were worn out, but she would have called in character. Her cuffed denim and short hair often gave girls even more to tease her for, but she was able to compensate by holding Ben’s hand extra tight. It was small things. And the flowers. The flowers always helped. Not that they directly helped the situation, but it put a nice smell in her locker and a pep in her step.  
Richie was a lost cause when it came to anything fashionable. So much so that Bev had learned to block out what he was wearing entirely. She almost didn’t realize when they pulled up to Bill’s. They had the house repainted late in the summer and it looked odd. Bill said it helped him cope with change, she didn’t get it. Then again, it also wasn’t her house. 

“Seriously? We’re three hours early” Eddie crossed his arms, leaning on the headrest. 

“What are we supposed to do for the rest of the day?” Bev smacked the side of Eddie’s face, resulting in a glare. 

“Oh I have some ideas” Richie put the car in park. 

“Shut it, Richie” Bev stepped out of the car, to which a reluctant Eddie followed.


	2. Stan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan is one of those friends

Bill had been out with Stan by the lake when they arrived at his house. Turned out being exponentially early meant that sometimes you had to wait. Bill’s parents were eager to let the three of them in, they had an open door policy for the Losers. Since the night Stan’s car got wrecked, they knew that above all, they needed to provide a safe space. It had only been a couple of months, but it was working. Eddie would sometimes show up on their doorstep at an ungodly hour of the night with an inhaler in one hand and a fistful of mushy pills in the other. He never explained what happened in those moments. It could have been that his mother forced them down his throat, or maybe it was accidental that he had taken too many, whichever it was, he needed an escape.  
Not to mention the times Richie had waltzed into the place early before school to get some sort of breakfast. Or the times Bev would come by just to sit in Georgie’s room and weep. Ben didn’t seem to trust Bill all too much, he only came over for group activities. And Mike, well, Mike didn’t have time to take up the refuge given to him. He didn’t really have time for much of anything, but he tried his best to make sure his friends knew he was there for them. Despite some rather crude complains about his cat.  
They sauntered down to the basement, which had been turned into a regular spot for all of them. There was a mini fridge and a semi-decent couch. It had taken them hours to get the couch down the stairs, which almost didn’t happen if it hadn’t been for Richie plopping himself down right on the edge and prompting it to practically fall down the stairwell. Which may have been why it wasn’t a very good couch to sit in anymore. But it was also dirt cheap. Literally. Eddie mostly refused to sit in it due to how dirty the damn thing was. Not that it bothered him, but it did. 

“We should clean up down here” Bev ran her hands along empty glass bottles. 

“Couldn’t agree more” Eddie sat in Richie’s lap, refusing to so much as touch the couch. Richie wasn’t a great alternative, but it was a start. 

“So when did this thing start? Because I sure as all hell didn’t see it coming, but at the same time it could have started in middle school, so please enlighten me” Bev pulled up a chair, sitting with her chin on the back. 

“Remember that party, like 2 months ago, when Stan’s car got wrecked? That night” Eddie rested his head in his hands. 

A beat of silence. 

“But how?” Bev leaned forward, this time squinting at the two of them. 

“Just kinda...happened. I mean obviously I’m a real hit around here, but I had my eye on this one little twink and-”

“I am not a twink” Eddie twisted around with fury in his gaze. 

“You are totally a twink” Bev shrugged, trying to hide a smile while getting off her chair. 

“You two suck” Eddie crossed his arms, moving to sit on the carpet.

“You know it” Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie’s torso.

“Grow up, Tozier” Bev grabbed the TV remote, flicking on whatever happened to be on last before the it had been turned off. 

It was a slow couple of hours. Bev tried her best not to look over towards what seemed to be the newlyweds, but it was almost entirely futile, as her best efforts were foiled by Eddie’s frantic kicking when Richie would poke his sides. She couldn’t believe that Bill and her had bets on when this would happen only less than a year ago, because this was not what either of them had in mind back then. But she couldn’t tell Bill. It didn’t hurt to realize that, it only had a minor sting to it. Because then maybe him and Stan wouldn’t feel so alone.  
Soon enough, Bill and Stan came tumbling down the basement steps wearing baseball caps and an abhorrent amount of sunscreen. Somehow Stan had still gotten a sunburn on the entirety of his nose, which huffed a small laugh from Bill’s mother. Eddie moved so his head was no longer leaning on Richie’s legs, sitting up in an unnaturally straight position. Bev almost had to stifle a laugh at that. 

“What the hell were you doing here so early?” Bill threw his hat in the corner, sitting down opposite Richie on the couch. 

“Got bored, thought we’d drop in” Richie scratched the back of his head. 

“We had a great time at the lake, thank you for asking” Stan sat in between Richie and Bill, leaning back on the couch. 

“Sorry Stan, how was your time at the lake?” Bev smiled, looking up from her place on the rug next to Eddie. 

“Horrible” Stan moved to face her, and she had to hold back her visible reaction to his completely burnt nose. 

“We didn’t see any birds on the beach, didn’t catch anything off the dock, and both forgot to pack towels” Bill finished Stan’s statement. 

“Tonight’ll be better” Bev reassured them, putting a hand on Bill’s knee. 

They all sat in silence for awhile, none of them really paying much attention to the reruns playing on the television. Soon enough the creak of the basement door let them know that someone had arrived. It was Ben, who was usually pretty late to these sorts of things, but was relatively on time this once. Bev smiled, which didn’t go unnoticed by Richie, who wondered if anyone else noticed when he would do the same with Eddie. Bev got up from her seat, moving to hug her boyfriend.  
The silence of the room then became palpable, so much so that it was unbearable. Only seconds later, Mike was heard at the top of the stairs, making his way down the stairs two at a time with his heavy boots. Everyone got up at that. It was inevitable that they all hug Mike. They almost never got to see him, it was like a moment of reprive for them to hear about his work. He always made it sound more peaceful than it was. He had good stories, and everyone was ready to listen. Bev was the first to wrap him up in her arms, draping them around his neck. When she didn’t pull away, Eddie decided it was a group hug, and soon enough Richie and Stan had their arms mixed up in the bundle. Richie’s arms were decidedly closer to Eddie than anyone else though. Bill and Ben joined in as well, haphazardly ending up not really touching Mike at all. 

“I missed you guys too” Mike laughed, trying to brush them all off. 

“God, Mike it’s been forever” Bev took a seat on the carpet, leaning back on the coffee table. 

“Only a month or so, but yeah, it’s felt like forever” Mike sat in the middle of the couch. 

Over the years, Mike had developed a habit of manspreading, it got so bad sometimes that no one could sit next to him except maybe Eddie, who had a habit of sitting so upright he could give himself the opposite of scoliosis. Mike and Bev were the worst two people to sit next to. Bev tended to spread herself on top of whoever was next to her, and Mike would smash whoever it was into whatever armrest or wall was boxing them in. So Richie and Eddie sat on the floor, away from them both.  
Though their escapades in seating were hardly over. Eddie sat directly in Richie’s lap, which got him a glare and an eye roll from Stan. Out of all the Losers, Eddie and Stan could basically read each other’s mind. Just like how Bev was the only one who could understand drunk Richie’s slurred rambles, it just worked that way.  
It came as no surprise then, that Stan could see straight through Eddie’s feelings for Richie. What Stan couldn’t see, however, was the blush hidden behind Eddie’s neck. Or maybe he did. Either way, he didn’t really care, he was more worried about wether or not his sunburn would end up peeling. Not that Eddie minded Stan’s indifference. In fact, it’s what had made him so approachable. No matter what, Stan couldn’t care less, and that made him the perfect person to share everything with, because he didn’t judge or try to fix problems, he just listened.  
After a couple of minutes, Bev sparked up the idea of watching a movie, and they got into a rabbit hole of cheesy horror movies. For some reason the group had an affinity for them, though no one had decisively said that they could only watch horror movies on their little nights at Bill’s, it’s all they ever did. At Stan’s house they played board games. At Richie’s house they played party games and drank. It was just what they did. They were half a movie in when Stan got up to get drinks, followed by a drowsy Eddie. Movies always made him a little sleepy.  
Eddie leaned on the kitchen counter, watching Stan grab cups from Bill’s cupboard like he lived there. He probably would someday. The thought made Eddie smile. 

“So you and Richie finally did it?” Stan began pouring lemonade into the glasses. 

Eddie chocked on his water. 

“You okay? Sorry, I shouldn’t make jokes like that. I don’t wanna be the next trashmouth, we already have one too many of-”

“That was a joke?” Eddie caught his breath, reaching for paper towels on the counter.

“Well yeah, we make jokes about you two all the- why are you being so weird about it?” Stan’s tone with his friends was delicate, it almost sounded inviting. 

“Stan, can I tell you something” He almost couldn’t help but tell him. 

“You’re not about to tell me that you actually- did you actually, you know, with Richie?” Stan’s eyes blew wide and he put down the jug of lemonade. 

“What? No? I mean. No, what I wanted to tell you is that we’re dating, me and Rich” Eddie sighed out a breath of relief, dabbing his shirt with a paper towel. 

“Oh. That’s not much better” Stan continued filling the cups, handing two to Eddie.

“Oh shut up” Eddie rolled his eyes, following Stan back down the stairs into the basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trees by McCafferty made me cry while writing this. also all I aim to be in life is what fanfic writers describe teen Richie as. 
> 
> you have no idea how happy I am with the length of this chapter, I was so scared it would be so short and it's actually kinda long? also apparently all the Losers are gunna find out over like a couple of days bc of how I'm writing this, which is honestly rlly funny so uhhh. it's like 1 in the morning, im so tired, sorry for grammar mistakes.


	3. Bill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill is nosy and may have a problem with shipping his friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mention of panic attacks

The night was beginning to come to a close. They had watched all the movies the majority of them could stomach. Stan was already curled up on Bill’s chest on the couch, he had been asleep since the second movie they had watched, which was something about ghosts in a house, too generic to really hold his attention for long. Ben was snoring from his spot on the floor, Bev was draped over him like a blanket, legs and arms thrown haphazardly around. Mike had his head back on the couch, a little close to Bill and Stan’s feet, but in his tired haze he didn’t really care. Bill was the only one left completely awake.  
He shifted to grab the remote from the coffee table. Stan had him practically glued to the couch, so it took a bit of work to actually move at all. Before clicking the TV off, Bill looked around the room. It wasn’t that he didn’t think everyone was asleep, he knew that they were all out like lights, it was just an odd moment for all the losers to be so peaceful. Mostly Richie. It was hard for him to make out the figure that was the amalgamation of Richie and Eddie in the dim lighting. Eddie was nestled inside a sleeping bag on the floor, which would normally kill his poor little heart, but he happened to have a certain Trashmouth crushed underneath him.  
And if Bill suspected anything, this wasn’t the time to dwell on it, but maybe tomorrow. After all, a good night’s rest would straighten anyone out. At least that’s what Stan had said the first time they kissed. He may have thought that was a bit adorable.  
The night went by in the a blur after that. Tossing and turning, waking up randomly, half asleep guttural sounds coming from somewhere in the room, and at one point Bev left to get some water. Bill was the first one to wake up, which was no surprise. Out of all the Losers he was always the most put together. He had a sleep schedule and already knew what colleges he’d get into with his almost perfect GPA. He had to move Stan’s curls out of his face to see anything in the room, which woke up a very lethargic Stan. He grumbled and moved off as Bill got up. There was no real way to tell what time it was in the basement.  
Bill disappeared from the room for longer than one very cold Stanley would have liked, but returned with four cups of coffee. He would have grabbed enough for everyone, but he couldn’t hold that many. He sat back down next to Stan and flicked on the TV quickly in the background, some infomercial blaring indistinguishably. Richie was the next up. No matter what, he always woke up like he wasn’t expecting it. His body lurched a little under Eddie as he stretched out and wiped his eyes, no disregard for the hypochondriac that was now laying sprawled out on the dry concrete floor of the basement.  
He smiled a bit, fluffing Eddie’s hair out and sighing. Bill didn’t pay much attention to it, only briefly glanced over. It really wasn’t out of the ordinary to see them like this. Usually it was proceeded by a remark about Richie not being able to see and thinking Eddie was Mike’s cat. Richie peeled himself off the floor and sat next to Stan on the couch, grabbing a cup of coffee on his way. But Bill did catch the way that Richie’s gaze caught on Eddie. That was new. His thought was interrupted by one of Stan’s arms thrown around him. How could he even begin to think straight at a time like that?  
Bev and Ben woke up laughing, something about looking into each other’s eyes for too long, and Mike didn’t wake up until Stan literally fell on top of him going to get Bev coffee. Eddie was out cold. It was no secret that he had a hard time sleeping. Sonia had ingrained such a tough sleep schedule into him that when he couldn’t live up to it, he had one ongoing panic attack until the morning. All of that had changed recently, but no one had really picked up on the lesser bags under his eyes, and no one would have guessed that it was because Richie snuck in to cuddle almost every night. And Richie wouldn’t admit it if asked. Not because their relationship was secret, although it was, no he would never admit to enjoying cuddling with Eddie Kaspbrack. 

“I’m up for some lunch” Bev put her cup down, reaching to grab Ben’s hand. 

“Fooood” Mike groaned, finally getting up from his spot on the floor. 

“My mom’s making grilled cheese” Bill’s announcement sent everyone flying up the stairs. 

Bev pulled Ben up the stairs faster than she had pulled him into the last school dance, which was saying something. Mike and Stan raced up the stairs, and for once in his life, Stan won. Richie was still sitting on the couch, eyes fixed on Eddie, when Bill nudged his arm. 

“You go ahead, I’ll wake up sleepy spaghetti head here” Richie put down his coffee, moving towards Eddie. 

Bill didn’t find it weird when he paused on the stairs to watch as Richie leaned over to gently shake Eddie awake. Eddie hit him limply after realizing where he was on the floor. And after looking around briefly, grabbed both sides of his face and kissed him. It was soft and quick and left both of them smiling like idiot. Bill didn’t find it weird. He had a bet with Bev anyway, and if he had a lucky bone in his body, this meant he now had an extra thirty bucks in his bank account.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fucking cat man. i honesly have no answer as to why everyone hates mike’s cat but i think it’s hillarious, also i don’t even know if he has a cat in the book/movies but now he does. i was having such bad block and then i got a nice comment telling me i should update and i got rlly inspired so thanks for that, it actually helped me out a lot. today was weird, and that’s why this update is so late at night but i hope you liked it. I didn’t listen to any music this time, only asmr lol.


	4. Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes Ben awhile.

It wasn’t really that Ben was oblivious to most things, but he was oblivious to most things. Wether it be jokes made at his expense or Bev’s massive crush on him, he never seemed to pick up on things very easily. So it should be no surprise that it took longer than normal for Ben to catch onto Richie and Eddie’s secret. It was weeks after their most recent sleepover at Bill’s, which had resulted in three of their friends finding out about their relationship. Now they were all huddled in a circle at Stan’s house going over Gov notes. Bill, Stan, and Richie had taken AP. It was a mystery to all of them as to how Richie managed to keep honor roll with his oddball schedule of mostly AP classes and off the wall electives. He was taking a mixed martial arts class right after AP Language and right before his early dismissal. Senior year was treating him well.  
Ben was sitting next to Bev and Eddie, in their mini circle of people who didn’t have the emotional stability to take AP classes Senior Year, aside from Mike. The thing about Mike was that he didn’t really come to study groups, his version of studying was listening to podcasts while doing various chores or grooming his cat. Nobody really minded much, aside from the cat part, but they still missed him. Stan and Bill were laughing about something indistinguishable and making eyes at each other on the bed. Richie turned to face Eddie and made a face, which earned him a slap on the foot. 

“Guys, I can’t take it anymore, my brain is going to physically explode” Richie laid back on the part of the bed not occupied by Bill or Stan. 

“From what, the lovebirds or the intricate details of our wonderfully flawed governmental system?” Bev didn’t bother looking up from her book. 

“All of the above” Eddie scoffed, closing his book gently. 

“What do you guys wanna do?” Stan moved so that he was now facing everyone sitting on the floor. 

“It’s getting late, I should probably head home” Eddie began packing everything back in his bag. 

“Oh jeez, it’s half past eight. Sorry guys, everyone has to be out by nine, house rules” Stan checked his watch, looking around the room a little disheartened. 

“Rich, you still good driving us home?” Bev began packing up as well. 

“Anything for you, princess” Richie made a face, to which Bev flipped him off. 

“Thank you for coming over, these study sessions really help” Stan smiled, helping Bill with his pencil case.

“Of course” Ben held the door open for Bev, but Richie and Eddie beat her out. 

“See you tomorrow, Stan” Eddie was halfway down the stairwell, and hardly heard from where Stan and Bill were still sat on his bed. 

“I love our friends” Stan smiled, leaning towards Bill. 

“Me too, me too. We’re still on for dinner tomorrow?” Bill threw his backpack on. 

“Obviously” Stan leaned over to kiss him briefly before ushering him out the door. 

Everyone but Bill packed into Richie’s car. Bill had gotten his license years before, but didn’t usually drive around Stan’s house. It was only a five minute walk, and he liked to walk. At least that’s what he told people, though usually he’d turn right back around and slide notes under Stan’s windowsill, which was always left just slightly ajar.  
It took Richie’s truck almost ten minutes to start up. Bev lived the farthest away from civilization, so Richie took her home first. Then all of their houses were on the way back and he didn’t have to drive home completely alone. Even though everyone silently acknowledged this, he would never say it out loud. It was a relatively short drive, but still a good drive out of the way. A couple of bumpy roads later, Bev was jumping out of the pickup with a small peck on Ben’s cheek. He smiled and she ran off into the night. They would have stayed to make sure she got inside, but it was getting later and Eddie’s mother would throw a fit.  
Ben fell asleep until they got to Eddie’s, where Richie hit the breaks so hard he almost hit his head on Eddie’s seat. He put his head back down and closed his eyes again. Richie eyed him in the back and couldn’t help but grab the entirety of Eddie’s face in his hands and slam their foreheads together. 

“Love you” he whispered, barely audible over the white noise coming from the radio. 

“Yeah, I know, dumbass” Eddie smiled, pulling Richie into an awkward driver’s side hug. 

“See you later?” Richie pulled back to glance back at Ben, trying to determine wether or not he was asleep. 

“It’s a school night” Eddie unbuckled his seatbelt. 

“So?” Richie tore his eyes back to Eddie. 

“You’re so fucking dumb” Eddie kissed his cheek and ran towards his house, not bothering to look back, though he was most definitely flipping Richie off from his porch.

They drove the rest of the way to Ben’s in complete silence, besides the broken radio. Richie tried to punch things into it, but it only made the noise more unbearable, so he stopped. He softened the breaks in front of Ben’s house. He reached back to poke him in the side. Ben sat upright, a little too startled by the action. 

“Oh. Thanks for the ride” Ben unbuckled and rubbed his eyes. 

“Anytime, big dude” Richie was tapping impatiently at the stickshift. 

“See you tomorrow” Ben’s voice was groggy and Richie assumed he was in the safe for the time being. 

He was wrong though. Ben couldn’t sleep in cars. He was one of those kids that would pretend to be asleep so his parents would carry him inside, he had practise. Though it was a big revelation, he didn’t think much of it. Other than how annoying it had been to hear Bev and Bill argue over how much money they owed each other late last year, and how that would probably start up again now. Ben didn’t like the idea of forcing people together, he liked natural relationships. And he was just happy that this was something organic, and not something their friends had forced them into.  
It did make a bit of sense though. Suddenly that poetry lesson he had given Richie two summers ago came into clear focus, and he wondered if he ever wrote poetry for Eddie. Maybe he could volunteer to proofread for him. Ben didn’t really understand how other people felt about personal stuff like that, but he’d be happy to have Richie proofread his poems for Bev and he’d gladly return the favour if he ever asked. Because while Richie was a pain in the ass, he really did care. A lot more than other people realized. And while Ben couldn’t see a lot of things, he could definitely see right through Richie, he always could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to write something about how everyone hates Mike's cat but idk if I should? we'll see. anyway, I really like the idea of Richie and ben having a close relationship bc it isn't rlly elaborated on in the movies but I'd like to see it!! this chapter is rlly short so maybe ill add on more about their relationship later but I'm so tired, I just wanna sleep.
> 
> there's a lot of bill and Stan this chapter? idk where that came from? 
> 
> also thanks to everyone that gives feedback, I appreciate it tons, and sorry for my horrible update schedule.


	5. Believe Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk about telling everyone....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listened to tessa violet's "interlude III" while writing.

“Rich, I want to tell them” Eddie swung his feet back and forth over the bed. 

Richie was pacing in his bedroom, something only Eddie could lead him to do. There were some things that were harder to think about, and it was always Eddie. It was always that he loved him, but couldn’t bare to say if half the time out of fear. 

“I know, I know” he had his hands looped through his hair. 

“They’ll understand...right?” Eddie’s voice cracked. 

“I don’t fucking know” Richie stopped in place. 

“They were fine with Bill and-”

“But that’s Bill and Stan, not you and me. God, imagine if they start making jokes, I mean it’d be easy for people to catch on if they did that” Richie sat exasperated at his desk, the pacing got to his head. 

“I want them to know. But, but my mom, you know, she- she’s a bitch. A fucking bitch” Eddie’s hands were now covering his face, but it did nothing to hide the emotion.

“I want to tell them too, Eds, more than anything, but I can’t watch you get hurt. Those fucking kids wrecked Stan’s car, over what, kissing? I can’t let them hurt you, I won’t” Richie moved to kneel in front of Eddie, moving his shaking hands away from his face. 

“I love you so much” Eddie fell into Richie, wrapping his arms around his neck. 

A moment went by in which neither knew what to say. Eddie’s breathing was heavy and laced with concern, digging his face further into Richie’s shirt. They sat like that for longer than either of them could have guessed, listening to the birds outside the open window. The fall air had given way to the winter cold. Christmas music was playing somewhere in the distance, it always was. A constant reminder of how uniform their town was. The same songs. The same people. 

“We’ll be okay” Richie said after Eddie’s breathing went comfortingly normal. 

“I don’t know if I can believe that right now” Eddie’s voice came out nasally and high. 

“I’ll believe enough for the both of us, okay Eds?” 

Richie sucked at comforting people, he’d be the first to admit it, but this was Eddie. He couldn’t fuck it up if he had tried. So he sat on the floor of his bedroom in the late afternoon, clutching his best friend with the cold air from the window still catching on his arms when the wind would blow. And someday it would be better, someday in the future when life didn’t revolve around their town. When Christmas music sounded happy instead of trapping. And they would tell all their friends, and he wouldn’t have to pretend to believe it. Because a small part of him couldn’t help but think it must be true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used to rewind youtube videos to listen to Tessa violet's music and now she has an album and it makes me really happy, but this is sad and sorry for that, I will get to Mike's chapter soon but I just really wasn't feeling it tonight.
> 
> don't worry, the chapter about mike will have a lot to do with his cat. if you want to give me name suggestions, I would literally cry so please do. hope you enjoyed and sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes. also I actually uploaded !!!! I didn't expect to have time to do this tonight so im happy.


	6. Mike and a crowd of drunk teenagers...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to Stan's birthday and things are a bit different that they expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I love "Higher Love" by Whitney Houston and that DJ dude.

They had been talking about it for hours. Sitting in Richie’s bedroom, going over their options. Of course both of them had their precautions, but more than anything they hated lying, especially to their friends. So they decided it would be at Stan’s birthday party, it was a week away. They would do anything to take away from Stan, just a small remark or something of the like. Their parties usually diverged into large games of truth-or-dare.   
Little did they both know that Stan had decided to plan a big party, or his parents had left for the weekend and Bev had told him it was a good idea. They arrived late, which wasn’t unusual for Richie, but it drove Eddie mad. Surprise ran through both of their veins when they saw the outline of Stan’s house with flashing lights and a thumping music coming from inside. 

“So we might need a new plan” Eddie croaked, looking over to Richie with a lump in his throat. 

“No way, they’ll just eat it up” Richie sneered, nudging Eddie in the side and pocketing his keys. 

“God I hate you so much” Eddie tried to make it sound playful, but his anxiety shone through. 

They walked around for a bit inside trying to find Stan, they finally found him in his bedroom with Bill and promptly slammed the door closed. Someone spiked the punch Bev and Stan had spent three hours trying to get right from the recipe. Stan guessed it was Bev, but he didn’t say anything. They found her in the living room, being swung up and down from Ben’s arms. Both of them were laughing and trying their best to sing along to lyrics they definitely didn’t know. Richie turned them towards the kitchen, where Mike was leaning against the wall. 

“You guys made it” He wrapped them both in a hug. 

“Speak for yourself, Mikey” Richie pulled away, moving to get a drink. 

“We haven’t seen you since, god when was it? Bill’s? In January?” Eddie shoved his hands inside his sweater sleeves. 

“It has been awhile” Mike mused, going back to his position leaning on the wall. 

“Do you know if there’s anyway to attach a mic to the audio system?” Richie dipped one of the last plastic cups in the punch bowl. 

“Yeah, we’re using the same speakers we did for Bill’s seventeenth, you remember that obnoxiously loud karaoke machine” Mike turned to face Richie. 

“What’re you gunna do with it, Rich?” Eddie’s voice sounded accusatory. 

“You’ll see” he downed what was left of his drink and walked out of the room. 

“That’s never a good thing” Mike scoffed, turning back to a conversation he was having before. 

Eddie stood there for a second reveling in what he knew was to come. They didn’t even know half of these people. Either that or they didn’t want to know them. Stan and Bev already knew, they didn’t need to tell everyone, they could get Ben, Bill, and Mike alone to tell them. If Bill wasn’t already occupied with Stan, and Ben was pretty clearly busy with Bev. So he walked out of the kitchen to find Richie crouching on the dining table trying to untie a knot in the karaoke mic. 

“This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done” Eddie stood with his arms crossed in front of the table. 

“I haven’t done anything, yet” Richie finally got the knot out and jumped off the table to turn the speakers down. 

“I can’t believe this is happening” Eddie sat on the edge of the table, waiting for Richie to join him. 

“Well you better get ready, spaghetti” Richie stood with a hand outstretched to him. 

Eddie obliged and took Richie’s hand, standing on the table. Mostly everyone was now looking at them, no one really looked all that angry that the music was lower. And people liked Richie, he got along with people well, despite very specific groups of pious Christians. He spoke loud and clear, his hands very obviously shaking with some sort of anxiety. 

“Firstly, I’d like to say a very happy birthday to Stan the man, wherever he may be at this point in time” 

He knew very well where Stan was and what he was doing, but that was no-one else’s business, and so he held himself back from making a very crude joke. 

“We are very lucky to have such an awesome kid to call a best friend. Both me and Eds have known that stupid fucking bloke for years, and it’s so fucking crazy that he’s so old now. Anyway, in summary, Happy Birthday Stan” 

Richie pretended to turn around to turn the speakers back up but stopped and spun himself back around. 

“Oh and Bev? Where are you, oh there, cool. You owe Bill thirty bucks” 

He grabbed Eddie’s face and slammed together with just a little too much force. Eddie had to stop himself from laughing as a very light Whitney Houston began playing in the background. After what felt like a sufficient amount of time, they pulled away. Maybe some kids cheered, maybe some booed, maybe Bev’s jaw dropped on the floor, but they didn’t notice.   
As observant as he was, Mike stepped in to turn the music back up, realizing very quickly that neither Richie or Eddie was going to do it anytime soon. They were too engulfed in what had just happened and their nerves apparently told them to just close their eyes and hold each other, which is what happened. Richie dropped the mic, and Mike was glad he unplugged it.   
Bev had no idea how in the everloving fuck Richie found out about their bets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to make chapters for parents and Mike's cat bc fuck Mike's cat. 
> 
> also thank you all for the kudos, it means the world over to me. I'm having a difficult time rn and I appreciate every bit of interaction on here so much. thanks again!

**Author's Note:**

> I got obsessed with Harry Styles new song because of Tumblr, like I saw it everywhere, and now I understand. Also sorry for how sort this first chapter is, it's late and I have an early morning. Will update the tags as I go. Hope you enjoyed!


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